Consulate is sign of influenceWord came from Little Rock that the Mexican government is most likely going to soon open a consulate in our state capital. Officials from our neighbor to the south noted that Arkansas' proximity and existing Hispanic population make it a natural location for a consulate. We agree, but not everyone will. We suspect that the announcement will be met with mixed reactions. We can almost hear already the cries of the "taking our jobs" crowd. We kno...

Rude words not the root of all evilTeresa Heinz Kerry told a journalist to "shove it." Vice President Dick Cheney told a senator to ... hmmm ... there's really no way to even hint at what he said without besmirching the pages of a family newsaper. And anyone who read the Starr Report knows what President Bill Clinton said about all sorts of things not relating to the economy, stupid. The point is, politicians are like everybody else. They say things that under the harsh light o...

Courts have contempt for First AmendmentMost Americans haven't been inside a newsroom. Neither "All the President's Men" nor "Paper Chase" paint the most realistic picture of what it's really like to work at a newspaper and how we inky wretches go about our daily grind. It's understandable that some First Amendment issues seem to be more important to journalists than to the general public. We hit the roof early and often when it comes to freedom of the press and all that jazz, and i...

Fishin' trip not much for catchin'By Rick Fahr editor@couriernews.com The state Game and Fish Commission folks usually get it right when it comes to information regarding the state's wildlife, but they missed the mark with this week's fishing report. "White River: Trout fishing is great on night crawlers, wax worms and yellow or white Power Bait. Fly-fishing is good using little sowbugs, tan Scuds, 1⁄64-ounce pink jigs, peach-colored Glow Bugs, 1⁄8-ounce gold Cleo spoons and b...

Job riding on race resultsBy David Sanders Arkansas' 2004 election cycle provides little excitement for those focused on state-based politics, but one race is starting to draw some attention. The race between state Rep. Bill Stovall of Quitman and Charles "Chee Chee" Tamburo of Heber Springs for the District 59 seat merits a mention. Stovall, a Democrat, is slated to become the next speaker of the House and should win re-election. Veterans of Arkansas politics point ou...

Size, diversity make Arkansas a model battleground stateBy James Jefferson President Bush is becoming a regular visitor to Arkansas, Democratic presidential rival John Kerry came the day after the president's most recent visit, and their running mates made back-to-back stops here last week. Such is the plight of what has been billed as a battleground state, one that has a variety of political challenges to sternly test candidates' philosophies. "We have great voters who pay attention. We know somet...

State should change law on gamblingThe first thing we noticed when we walked in the door of the meeting hall was the shotgun. Propped up on a little stand, the sign under the new firearm said that it was the grand prize in a raffle, sponsored by the local sheriff's department. Two things about that struck us as odd. Nothing indicated that the authorities were going to do a background check on whomever won the shotgun to make sure that the person could legally own the weapon. An...

Students find busy time over 'break'We visited the campus of Russellville High School on Tuesday morning. For a minute, we thought we had lost a month, skipping over August and moving right into September. School had to be in session, as there were students everywhere. In the open expanse between the facilities and Knoxville Avenue, dozens of energetic, if hot and sweaty, young men were running pass patterns and blocking opponents and otherwise preparing for the coming football ...

Election 2004: Games will soon beginThis candidate's in. That one's out. Another one isn't quite sure yet. Yep, it's election season again. Just as sure as the extremely partisan will claim that the issues are too important for partisanship, the already-on-us cycle is sure to involve its share of sniping and finger-pointing and pontificating. Through it all, we'll be trying to sift through the chaff to find the wheat. It won't always be easy because there will be plenty of clutt...

Security leadership crying wolfThe headlines: George W. Bush promises civility and respect. Pope County seniors work to improve their activities center. Organizers plan Valley Fest. Those sound familiar, don't they? However, those weren't the headlines for today, Aug. 4, 2004. Those were the headlines for Aug. 4, 2000. We're confident that wherever he is, President George W. Bush will be promoting civility and respect today (actually producing it is another matter). And, lo...

Scenic byway involves more than just signsA meeting in Clarksville this week generated a lot of interest. At issue was whether to designate Highway 21 a scenic byway. No doubt, the roadway that travels north from Clarksville through the Ozark Mountains is breathtakingly scenic. And that's not just in the fall. Valley views and deep forests make that curvy drive more bearable than it would otherwise be. Make no mistake, designating a highway a scenic byway isn't about ensuring that loc...

Abuse photo should raise readers' ireThe caller wanted to talk about an Associated Press photograph. Generally, we get positive feedback on images taken by AP photographers around the world. Those folks are pretty good at what they do. On this occasion, however, the feedback wasn't positive. The photo the caller wanted to talk about showed U.S. soldiers - and a dog that appeared to be in mid-snap - surrounding a naked Iraqi prisoner at Abu Ghraib prison. The soldiers had either t...

Kerry's insult points to societal issueThe questioner wondered the difference between Teresa Heinz Kerry and Vice President Dick Cheney. The differences would at first appear obvious, but the questioner referred to two specific instances that supposedly received vastly separate reviews. In response to a badgering inky wretch, Kerry told the reporter to "shove it." Cheney, on the floor of the Senate, told a colleague to ... well, you most likely have heard what he said. It was toile...

Retention numbers misleadingWe wonder how Gen. Peter Schoomaker, the U.S. Army chief of staff, delivered his news release on Monday. We can't imagine with a straight face. Well, yes, actually we can. That's what high-ranking government people do these days - feed the American people a line that has only a grain of truth buried somewhere within it. Schoomaker had the difficult task of trying to convince journalists (and the American people) that the Army is meeting its re...

School has priorities in reverseFor all that's right about Arkansas and these United States, there are a few things that we really should change. One of those is the bold fact that we don't value education on a par with many other things. The last couple of years have shown how far this state in particular is willing to go - or not go - to improve education systems for high schoolers. In that battle, education took a back seat to local control and local sports teams and loca...

New czar not needed for securityLeave it to a government commission to come up with a plan that says we need more bureaucrats to solve whatever problem ails us. That's basically what the 9/11 commission said when the Republicans and Democrats suggested the way to combat terrorists is to hire a Cabinet-level national intelligence leader who will oversee this agency and that bureau. The new terrorism czar would be in charge of protecting us against the bad guys. What in our re...

Vigilantes not making job easierRegular viewers of old school "Law & Order" will remember the episode in which two bounty hunters came looking for a fugitive and ended up murdering several people in the process. They employed the dubious but effective "shoot 'em first and sort 'em out later" strategy toward capturing suspects. They caught up to their quarry but left a path of unjustified carnage in their wake. In the end, their troublesome ways got them in big trouble. It se...

Time for diplomacy nearly pastDr. Robert C. Brown is a fine diplomat. Arkansas Tech University's president keenly understands how to make a point without hammering someone over the head. He was in fine form Tuesday, answering questions about the University of Arkansas' political action committee, set up to funnel funds to state lawmakers - the lawmakers who dole out higher education dollars to the UA and ATU and every other institution of higher learning from Monticello to...

Local group helps others with worksWe, the people of the United States, haven't gotten a lot of good publicity lately. Iraq remains split on our occupation. Some folks want us there. Others, obviously, want nothing to do with the Stars and Stripes. Our presidential election is months away, but the mudslinging has already started. We've begun stocking up on ibuprofen for this long, ugly battle ahead. And this whole gay marriage thing isn't exactly the type of feel-good issue we ...

Tobacco ban makes senseA couple generations ago, movie stars and athletes encouraged American consumers to light up. Marlboro, Winston and Lucky Strike were names as familiar as Ajax, General Electric and Uncle Milty. Mickey Mantle told us that smoking helped him hit home runs. The next generation of Americans listened as rodeo legends extolled the virtues of smokeless tobacco and a camel became the industry's icon of cool. Sharon Stone made smoking in a police inte...